The Baku World Challenge was an international

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

competition in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, held on a temporary

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

on closed public roads.

History

2012

In 2012, the City Challenge GmbH organized a stand-alone event for GT3-spec cars in Baku. It was called ''City Challenge Baku''. The races were held on a street circuit around the

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

. Gymkhana drifters and entertainment activities were the supporting program. According to the promoter, the event had 42,000 visitors.

2013

In 2013, the finale of the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

was held in Baku as ''Baku World Challenge''. The series used a new street circuit close to the

Baku Crystal Hall Baku Crystal Hall ( Azerbaijani: ''Bakı Kristal Zalı'') is an indoor arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Located on the coast of Baku near National Flag Square, construction of the arena began in August 2011 and finished in April 2012in time for it to h ...

and the

National Flag Square The National Flag Square ( az, Dövlət Bayrağı Meydanı) is a large city square off Neftchiler Avenue in Bayil, Baku, Azerbaijan. The National Flag Square covers overall. The area of the upper part is . The square features the state symbol ...

. It had a length of . The event was organized by Jean-François Chaumont and the former

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three rac ...

2014

The ''Baku World Challenge'' was the last race of the

Blancpain Sprint Series The GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup, officially known as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS for sponsorship reasons, formerly the FIA GT Series, is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) ...

in 2014. The event was discontinued following the announcement that

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

would hold a street race in Baku from

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. The circuit was shortened to .

Previous winners

Lap records

The official race lap records at the Baku World Challenge are listed as:

References

Links

Official Baku World Challenge homepageBaku World Challenge on FacebookBaku World Challenge press informationOfficial Baku City Challenge homepage
Motorsport venues in Azerbaijan Auto races in Azerbaijan Recurring sporting events established in 2012 Recurring events disestablished in 2014 Defunct motorsport venues Defunct sports competitions Sports competitions in Baku Autumn events in Azerbaijan {{motorsport-stub